Door-operating mechanism.



E. D. CURTIS.

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1908.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. D. CURTIS. noon OPERATING mncmmsm. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1908. 941, 1 32, Patented Nov. 23, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

Mc'iIZZ UF UNITED STATES ELBARTUS ID. CURTIS,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 12, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELBARTUS D. CURTIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door -()perating Mechanism, of which I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The present invention has for its object to provide improved mechanism whereby sliding doors may be easily shifted from the doorways which they normally close, and the invention consists in the features of improvement hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

My invention is particularly well adapted for use in connection with lumber drying kilns, or like structures, in which heav 1 doors are employed, these doors being arranged for removal from in front of the doorways by means of a common rail that extends along and usually at the top of the several doorways and serves as a track for the travel thereon of the carrying rollers that support the doors. It is highly desirable that a simple, effective means be provided whereby the doors, while in normal position to close the doorways, shall be independent of and away from the track, so that the track shall be unobstructed for the passage along it of any one of the series of sliding doors, and to provide simple and efficient means whereby the doors may readily be placed onto and supported by the track, so that the doors can be moved laterally from in front of their doorways and in front of or beyond adjacent doors. This desideratum is most effectually accomplished by my present invention, in which each of the several doors is provided with its individual carrying rollers adapted to be placed upon and then travel on the common supporting rail or track, or to be removed therefrom when the door is to be brought to its normally closed position.

It has been heretofore proposed to provide various means whereby heavy sliding doors could be shifted laterally along a common rail or track and past other doors of the l structure adjacent thereto. Thus, in one prior form of apparatus, the common track or rail is provided with a single traveling carrier by which any one of a series of doors can be transported along the common track and in front of the adjacent closed doors. In another form of apparatus, designed for a like purpose, the doors have been PI'OXlClQd with movably supported carrying rollers, the supports of these rollers being such that after the door has been lifted by supplemental mechanism, the carrying rollers can be swung outward away from the door and over the common track or rail, so that, upon the release of the lifting mechanism, the rollers should rest upon the track or rail and sustain the door thereon, in manner permitting it to be shifted laterally in front of or past other doors.

My invention is designed to provide more simple and effective door operating mechanism than those heretofore employed and, with this end in View, I provide each door with means whereby it may be lifted and swung outward from its doorway, so as to permit its carrying rollers to rest upon the common track.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention as applied to a series of lumber drying kilns, but it will be readily understood that the invention is equally ap plicable for operating sliding doors of various other structures, such furnaces, railway cars or the like.

Figure l is a view in front elevation of a series of dry kilns having my improved door operating mechanism applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a view in horizontal section on line 2'2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. .i is an enlarged View in vertical section 011 line tt of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the door in partially closed position. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Figs. a and 5, but showing the door completely open.

In the drawings, A, B, O and D designate a series of lumber dry kilns arranged side by side, the division walls between these kilns being designated as a, b and c. As shown, there are three rails E leading into each of the kilns, these rails being adapted to support the trucks whereon the lumber will be piled.

To the top portions F of the several kilns are attached a series of outwardly and downwardly extending brackets G to which is se cured a rail H that extends in front of the several doorways and constitutes the comwhen the doors are moved outward by mechanism embodying my invention. Upon each door there is provided means whereby such door may be shifted from the closed position shown in Fig. 4 to the open position shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings and, while details of this mechanism may be varied widely without departure from the scope of the invention, I prefer to employ the general fea-- tures of construction to be next described.

Upon each door there is mounted a pair of rock shafts a and 5 that are shown as journaled in suitable bearings 6 at or adjacent the edges of the door. I prefer to employ two rock shafts, as shown, and to con .nectv these shafts for unison movement by means of a link 7 that is united to the central crank portions 8 of the shafts. The ends of each of the shafts 4: and 5 are provided with crank arms 9 and, to secure a more effective unison movement of the shafts, a link 10 may extend between the crank arms 9 at one or both ends of the shafts. One of the shafts, and, preferably the lower shaft 5, has fixed thereto a bail or handle 12 where by the shafts will be shifted in manner to be presently described.

At the front of each partition wall a, b and 0, between the kilns, there is provided suitable means adapted to cooperate with the shifting mechanism on the doors. Preferably, such means consists of plates 15 having seats or sockets 16 opening forwardly and adapted to receive the cranks 9 of the shafts 1 and 5. Preferably, each plate 15 is a channel plate and each of its outwardly project-ing flanges is formed with a seat 16, so that one pair of plates will serve for cooperation with the cranks 9 at the adjacent ends of two doors.

From the construction of parts as thus far defined, it will be seen that when a door is in closed position, the crank arms 9 of its shafts 4t and 5 will rest at the bottom of the seats 16 of the plates 15 and the weight of the door being thrown upon thecrank arms 9 will cause the door to be tightly held against its jamb, the crank arms 9 at such time extending approximately to the angle shown in Fig. 4. If, now, it is desired to shift a door, the attendant will grasp the bail or handle 12 and swing it downward, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. The efiect of this downward movement of the bail 12 will be to turn the shafts 4L and 5 and to cause the door to be raised slightly and swung forwardly until its carrying rollers 2 rest upon the track H, as seen in Fig. 5. The downward movement of the bail 12 being continued slightly, the free ends of the cranks 9 will come opposite the open portions of the seats 16 and the door may then be manually swung outward to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5 and by full lines in Fig. 6. The weight of the door will then be supported entirely by the carrying rollers 2 on the track H and the door can be shifted laterally in front of an adjoining door, or as far as may be desired. lVhen a door is to be restored to closed position, it will be brought opposite its doorway and the bail 12 will be shifted so that the free ends of the crank arms 9 will be in position to engage the seats 16 of the plates 15, and the door will be pushed inward until the crank arms 9 are within the seats 16. The bail 12 will then be swung upward, thereby causing the shafts t and 5 to lift the carrying rollers 2 from off the track H and to swing the door from the open position shown by full lines in Fig. 5 to the closed position shown by Fig. 4c.

in order to enable a door to be accurately positioned in front of its doorway, so that the crank-arms 9 will enter the seats 16 of the plates 15, when the door is pushed inward, I prefer to provide the means next to be described: In front of each doorway and at slight distance therefromare placed one or more pairs of vertically disposed rollers 20 that are mounted upon upright studs or pins suitably bolted to the fioorway of the structure, or otherwise conveniently supported, and, with very broad doors, I prefer to employ two pairs of such rollers, as shown in the drawings. Each door is provided adjacent its bottom with means to cooperate with the rollers or guides 20 in positioning the door so that its crank-arms 9 shall come opposite the seats 16 of the plates or brackets 15. As shown, each door has attached to its front, adjacent its bottom edge, two cam-shaped centering devices 21 that project forwardly a sufficient dis tance beyond the front of the door, so that when a door has been brought opposite its a fipropriate door ay, the centering devices 21 will contact with the vertical rollers or guides 20 and, when the centering devices 21 are between the rollers or guides 20, they will tend to check the door in proper position to insure the accurate setting of the crank-arms 9 into the sockets 16 of the plates or brackets 15 when the door is pushed in ward. t will be understood, of course, that if a door is being moved laterally for any considerable distance, its lower end may be pushed slightly inward, so that the centering devices 21 shall not contact with the vertical rollers or guides 20, but, as the door reaches a point in front of its doorway, the contact of the centering devices 21 with the rollers 20 will insure the accurate location of the door in central position.

It is manifest that the. precise details of construction above set out may be varied widely without departure from the scope of the invention, and that features of the invention may be employed without its adoption as an entirety. Thus, for example, while I prefer to use supporting rollers for the doors, shoes, such as are sometimes employed for freight car doors, might be employed, particularly if the doors to be shifted are not very heavy.

Having thus described 1 claim as new, and ters Patent, is

1. The combination with a structure l1aving a doorway and having a track extending across said doorway, of a door provided with rollers mounted in fixed relation thereto and normally disengaged from the track, and means mounted upon the door whereby said door may be shifted outwardly and inwardly to place said rollers upon or remove them from said track.

2. The combination with a structure having a doorway, of a track parallel with the structure, a door, track rollers carried by said door and normally disengaged from, but engageable with the track, and means mounted on the door and engageable with the structure for shifting the door outwardly from the doorway onto the track or inwardly from the track back to the doorway.

3. The combination with a structure having a doorway and having a track extending across said doorway and having sockets or bearings adjacent said doorway, of a door my invention, what desire to secure by Letprovided with rollers or supports normally disengaged from said track and means mounted upon the door and adapted to engage said sockets or bearings whereby said door may be lifted and moved outwardly to place said rollers upon said track and remove them therefrom to shift the door to closed position.

4-. The combination with a structure hav ing a doorway and having a track extending across said doorway and having sockets or hearings adjacent said doorway, of a door provided with rollers or supports normally disengaged from said track, crank-arms mounted upon said door and adapted to engage said sockets or bearings and means whereby said crank-arms may be turned to cause them to lift and move outward the door in order to place its rollers upon the track.

5. The combination with a structure having a doorway and having a track extending across said doorway and having sockets or bearings adjacent said doorway, of a door provided with rollers or supports normally disengaged from said track, a rock shaft mounted upon said door and provided with crank-arms at its ends adapted to enter and engage said sockets or bearings and means whereby said rock shaft may be turned to cause the door to be lifted and moved outward to place its rollers upon the track or to return the door to closed position.

6. The combination with a structure having a doorway and having a track extending across said doorway and having sockets or bearings adjacent said doorway, of a door provided with rollers or supports normally disengaged from said track, a rock shaft mounted upon said door and provided with crank-arms adapted to enter and engage said sockets or bearings and means whereby said rock shaft may be turned to shift the door inwardly and outwardly, said rock shaft being so mounted upon the door that when the door is in closed position, the crank-arms or rock shaft will extend inwardly and above a horizontal plane.

7. The combination with a structure having a doorway and having a track extending across said doorway and having sockets or bearings adjacent said doorway, of a door provided with rollers or supports normally disengaged from said track, parallel rock shafts mounted upon said door and provided with crank-arms at their ends adapted to enter and engage said sockets, said rock shafts being connected together and means whereby said rock shafts may be turned to shift the door inwardly and outwardly.

8. The combination with a structure having a doorway, and having a track extending across said doorway, and having open sockets or bearings adjacent said doorway, of a door provided with rollers or supports normally disengaged from said track, a plurality of rock shafts connected together and mounted upon said door, said rock shafts being provided with crank-arms at their ends to enter and engage said sockets or bearings and a bail or handle whereby said rock shafts may be turned to cause said door to be moved outward or inward in order to move its rollers or supports onto or away from the track.

9. The combination with a structure having a doorway and having a track extending across said doorway, along which track the door can slide, of means for locating the door in accurate position in front of its doorway, comprising a double inclined guide projecting forwardly from the door and vertically disposed rollers located in front of the doorway to cooperate with said guide upon the door.

10. The combination with a structure having a door-way, of atrack adjacent said door-way, a door having supports mounted in fixed relation thereon and arranged to engage said track to sustain the door therefrom, said supports being disengaged from said track in the closed position of the door,

and means for bodily shifting said door from the door-way onto the track and back to the door-way.

11. The combination with a structure having a door-way, of a track adjacent said door-way, a door having rollers or supports fixed in position thereon and normally disengaged from, but engageable with said track to sustain the door therefrom, of means for guiding said door upwardly and outwardly to place said rollers on the track and upwardly and inwardly from the track back to the doorway.

12. The combination with a structure hav ing a door-way, of a track adjacent and parallel to said door-way a door having rollers or supports fixed in position thereon and normally disengaged from, but engageable with said track to sustain the door there from, of means for bodily lifting and guiding said door in acurved path upwardly, outwardly and downwardly from the doorway onto said track and upwardly, inwardly and downwardly from said track back to said door-way,

ELBARTUS D. CURTIS. V

Vitnesses CLARA A. NORTON, KATHARINE GnRLAoI-I. 

